The legal battle stems from conflicting interpretations of a historic 1993 family settlement that structurally divided the multi-generational ice cream and food processing conglomerate between two distinct family branches. Under the original 33-year-old pact, the Mumbai faction (operating via Vadilal Dairy International) surrendered its equity shareholdings in the primary trademark-holding entity, Vadilal International Pvt Ltd. In exchange, the group was granted permanent, irrevocable rights to exclusively utilize the Vadilal brand name for ice creams and fruit-based beverages within specific regional jurisdictions, namely Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala, and undivided Andhra Pradesh (including Telangana).

The current legal face-off was triggered on May 26, 2026, when the Ahmedabad-based faction—which controls Vadilal Industries Ltd and Vadilal International—issued a formal communication purporting to abruptly terminate the underlying Registered User Agreement and revoke an Irrevocable Power of Attorney over alleged quality standard violations and microbiological contamination claims. Vadilal Dairy International immediately approached the High Court under provisions of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, seeking a protective injunction. VDIL successfully argued that the registered user paperwork was merely an operational mechanism to execute the permanent parent family covenant, rather than a standard commercial license subject to arbitrary cancellation.

In granting the interim shield, Justice Borkar concluded that the Mumbai faction established a strong prima facie case, recognizing that a sudden brand disconnection after more than three decades would cause severe, irreversible injury to the company’s long-established market goodwill and commercial infrastructure. The court’s sweeping injunction explicitly restrains the Ahmedabad faction from acting upon their termination notice, bars them from entering VDIL’s protected territorial states, and prohibits them from licensing or creating any third-party corporate interests in the trademark within those designated zones. This legal shield remains fully active through the upcoming arbitral proceedings and extends for 90 days following the final arbitral award.